1870s: England begins its shift from a farming economy to an industrial economy, as foreign imported meat and produce drive down farm wages. Over the next few decades, the population shifts from rural to urban settings at an unprecedented rate.

Today: Britain has one of the world's most sophisticated industrial economies. Only about two-fifths of the land is usable for farming, and the country is only about 4 percent forested.

1870s: A woman carrying a child out of wedlock would be shamed into traveling on her own in poverty rather than returning to her own town and facing disgrace before her friends and neighbors.

Today: The social stigma against unmarried women is greatly diminished as the practice has become more common throughout the past three decades.

1870s: It is considered highly unusual for a lone woman like Bathsheba to run a farm by herself. Most...